Contact earring



March 6, 1945. MEYER 2,370,808

CONTACT EARRIN Filed Jan. 9, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY5 March 6, 1945. c, MEYER 2,370,808

CONTACT EARRING Filed Jan. 9, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVEINTOR.

ATTORNE Y5.

Patented Man 6, 1945 UNITED STATES- PATENT "OFFICE,

oou'rno'r EARRING Maximilian: Meyer, Brooklyn, 3!. Application, January 9, 1942,, Serial No. 426,153

(or. es -14)- 8' Claims.

Myinvention relates toa novel earring and more particularly my invention relates to. an earring adapted to be positioned. inclose proximity to. the ear sothat it presents an improved. appearance, and of such construction as to reduce the. amount of extraneousfastenmg members hitherto employed in earrings.

In the prior art earrings have been fixed to and retained upon the ear by means of a stationary metal gripping member anda movable metal gripping member adapted to be advanced toward said stationary gripping member. The lobe of the ear is gripped between these two gripping members and the. earringthus maintained upon the ear. Such gripping members are ordinarily metallic and as such may be a source of discomfort to the wearer,

A'further disadvantage of such fastener structures is that, particularly in the case. of a bulkier or heavier earring, the heavy ornamental portion which lies outwardly, of the ear tends to cause the earring to sag downwardly, this effect being particularly enhanced because of the spacing of the earring from the. ear by reason of the stationary gripping member.

It is the object ofv my present invention to provide an earring that fitsdirectly upon the ear lobe itself and is secured thereto by a single movable gripping member.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an earringthat fits upon, and is so secured to the ear that sagging is eliminated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an earring that can be. comfortably but firmly secured upon the ear.

It is a further object orthe present invention to simplify earring construction.

These and further objects of my invention will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and the specific description thereof which here follows.

Figure 1 is a perspective showing the earring of my invention in position upon the ear.

Figure 2 is a perspective of the earring of the ensuing of my invention.

. Figure 7 is a perspective showing a modified form of the earring of inventionjin positiQn upon the ear.

Figure. 8. is .a. perspective of. the. modified form of the. earring of my, inventionas. shown in, Figure'l.

Figure 9. is. a front view of the. modified form of, the earring of my inventionasshown inure 7.

Figure 1c is. a side; view of a modified form of the earring as shown in Figure. 7; I

Figure 1.1 is a rear view of. the earring. as. shown in Figure 7. I p

Figure. 12 is a. side view of amodiflcationof the earring shown in Figures 8 to 1.1 by mean of which a more secure grip is, eflected, T

Referring now more particularlyuto Figure 1 I shower-1 earring generally denoted as H) secured Y tothe ear H.

The earring 10, as will be noted froman examination particularly of Figure Econ,- sists of an ornamental plastic material which may have light reflecting characteristics particularly on the, front surface. l2 thereof. This earring may be formed, as can be seen. from an examination of Figures 2 to 4.. bycutti-ng into a sphere of plastic material with a cutting disc to form the groove opening M, the groove having along front wall 15 and the short rear wall Hi and the bottom surface H which is, preferably concave. The

short rear portion IQ of theear-ring is formed by cutting away the uppermost." portion thereof as bygrinding or cutting after the; central groove .M has been formed. The movable gripping means comprises a knurled gripping head zcmoun'ted on a screwltadapted to berotated by the knurled handle 22. The screw 21 is mounted in a bearing M having an extending arm 25 which iszset into the rear portion 18 by either boring a. hole in the rear portion 18 and adhesively securing the: eX tending arm'25 therein or by heating the'extending arm 25 andpressingjit into fusing contact with said rear portion i8. Y i

As will be noted from Figure 1 the earring'is mountedv upon the car so that'the forwardwall i5 is indirect contactwith-the'ear lobe and the preferably concavebottom' I l-of the groove l lf is in contact with the bottom'of the ear lobe, the

knurled gripping head 20 then being advanced by rotation of'the handle 22 so=that"i t comes 'ingripping contact with the rear of the ear lobe.

The rear portion ll! of the cut-away sphere is cut down at 26' in theshape shown bothto provide aproper seat for the movable grippingportion and also to allow-free play for the finger for rotating the handle 22. The rear wallof the rear portion 18 may be slanted upwardly and inwardly to provide further clearance for the finger in manipulating the handle 22.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figure 6 the rear wall 29 of the front portion 30 of the earring generally referred to as 3| is slanted upwardly and rearwardly so that when the earring is mounted upon the ear, a better grip is obtained thereon and the earring is held in place under even strenuous movement.

If desired, the rear wall l or the rear wall 29 may be roughened or provided with transverse ridges to enhance the gripping effect of this wall upon the ear lobe.

Although I have indicated that the earring described hereinabove may be formed by taking a. plastic sphere, such as for example, is described in my Patent No. 2,241,365, a sphere of any decorative material may be employed and such sphere may be cut so as to provide. a central groove therein extending substantially into the sphere, and then that portion of the sphere at the rear of the groove may be shortened to provide a seat for the movable fastening means. It is also in the purview of my invention to cast an earring body in other ways as for example by injection molding or any casting, molding or shaping operation. The feature of my invention lies particularly in applying the structure set forth above.

In Figure 7 I show a modified form of my invention in which an earring 40 is mounted upon the ear 44. The earring 40, as will be particularly noted'from Figure 9, is narrow and is suitably formed from a disc in button-like form in contradistinction to the sphere form shown in Figures 1 to 6 hereinabove.

The earring 40 has a similar central grooved area 4! which is formed by cutting disc or wheel which cuts down into the button of plastic material employed, and the rear portion 42 is shortened to the platform 43 by some cutting or grinding means. On and in this platform '43 and secured thereto by a fusion or adhesive contact is a gripping means comprising a knurled gripping head 45 mounted on a screw 46 which is rotated by a knurled handle 41. The screw 46 is mounted in a bearing 49 fixed on the arm 50, which as stated above, is set in the rear portion 42 by heat and/or adhesive.

The forward wall 52 of the groove 41 comes in direct contact with the car 44 and the knurled gripping head 45 is advanced by rotation of the knurled handle 41 so as to grip the rear of the ear lobe and secure the earring firmly upon the ear. The bottom portion 53 of the groove 4| is preferably concave in shape so as to fit neatly about the bottom of the ear lobe. This earring 40 as well as the earring l0 described above fit closely about the ear lobe both in the front portion and the-bottom thereof and by reason of this form fitting effect are firmly and neatly secured upon the ear. I

In Figure 12 I show a modified form of my invention in which the earring 55 has a groove 56, the forward wall 51 of which is inclined upwardly and rearwardly in order to enhance the grip of the earring upon the ear. The forward walls 52 and 51 of the grooves 4! and 56 of the earrings 40 and 55 may have an irregular shape such as in the form of transverse ridges extending thereacross to enhance the gripping effect of the earring.

The various earrings of my invention shown and described above are unique in appearance particularly by reason of their close contact with the ear lobe and particularly because the ear lobe fits into direct contact with the central groove of the earrings and the walls thereof so that there is little or no tendency for the earring to sag when it is of a bulky nature. This is advantageous both from the standpoint of appearance and from the standpoint of comfort. The earring is well secured to the ear lobe even without roughening the central wall of the groove because of the relatively large surface area of that front wall such as 52 of the groove which contacts the ear lobe.

In addition to the ornamental and wearing advantages of the earring of my invention it should also be noted that the earring construction is simplified since the earring is entirely in one piece except for the movable gripping member which is sunk into and mounted on the rear portion of the earring. This minimizes the amount of labor necessary in the manufacture of the piece and also reduces the number of parts necessary. In obviating the necessity for the customary stationary gripping member there is an advantage not only in eliminating the labor and part cost thereof, but the contact of the plastic earring with the ear is more comfortable than the contact of the ear with the stationary metal gripping member.

Various modifications of m'y invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. I accordingly desire that in construing the breadth ofthe appended claims that they shall not be limited to the specific details shown and described in connection with the above explanation, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. An earring comprising a plastic element having a front portion and a rear portion; said element having a groove adapted to receive the ear lobe formed between said front portion and said rear portion; and fastening means mounted on said rear portion, said rear portion being tapered upwardly to provide free access to said fastening means.

2. An earring comprising a plastic element having a front portion and a rear portion; and said element having a groove adapted to receive the ear lobe formed between said front portion and said rear portion, the rear wall of said front portion being slanted upwardly and rearwardly.

3. The method of making an earring comprising grinding a groove in a generally circular plastic element, said groove extending more than half way through said plastic element, thus forming a front portion and a rear portion, removing the uppermost part of the rear portion and inserting a fastening element in said rear portion.

4. The method of making an earring comprising grinding a groove in a spherical plastic element, said groove extending more than half way through said plastic element, thus forming a front portion and a rear portion, removing the uppermost part of the rear portion and inserting a fastening element in said rear portion.

5. The method of making an earring comprising grinding a groove in a disc like plastic element, said groove extending more than half Way through said plastic element, thus forming a front portion and a rear portion, removing the uppermost part of the rear portion and inserting a fastening element in said rear portion.

6. The method of making an earring compris ing cutting a groove in a generally circular plastic element, said groove extending more than half most part of the rear portion and inserting a 10 fastening element in said rear portion.

8. The method of making an earring comprising cutting a groove in a disc like plastic element,

said groove extending more than half way through said plastic element, thus forming a front portion and a rear portion, removing the uppermost part otthe rear portion and inserting a fastening element in said rear portion.

MAXIMILIAN c. MEYER 

